“He is the guy they think finally stood up to the establishment and did what he said and went to Washington and blah, blah, blah,” Maher said during a Tuesday appearance on Piers Morgan Tonight. “So he is going to be very difficult to beat in the primaries.”

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Though liberals like Maher often mock Cruz, Maher conceded that “you cannot underestimate” Cruz because he represents the conservative base. Maher said Cruz is “their hero” right now for living up to his campaign promises and sticking it to the Republican establishment during the defunding Obamacare battle.

“He is definitely going to be the favorite of the people who vote in Republican primaries. I mean, we saw what it looked like the last time and the time before,” Maher said on the program, referring to the 2012 presidential primary in which there were no conservative alternatives to establishment candidate and eventual nominee Mitt Romney. “But the problem with the Republican primaries last time for them, they said they didn’t have a Ted Cruz in there. That’s why they went with Mitt Romney. Remember, they tried every other person, every other Republican got a shot at being number one…”

He predicted the 2016 contest would ultimately be between Cruz and Christie and Cruz would win because Christie is from the Northeast and suspect after he “put his arm around” President Barack Obama after Hurricane Sandy.

“You know, if it’s the primary voters who vote every time, I think it will be Ted Cruz,” Maher said when asked who would win between Cruz and Christie.